THE ARTS COUNCIL OF GREAT BRITAI N COUNCI L Sir Ernest Pooley, K.C.V.O. (Chairman) Mr, Ivor Brown Sir Lewis Casson Sir Kenneth Clark Lord Esher Dr. B. Ifor Evans Mrs. Ayrton Goul d Lord Harlech Mrs. Cazalet Keir Sir Stanley Marchant Dr. O. H. Mavor Dr. R. Vaughan Williams Mr. W. E . William s SCOTTISH COMMITTE E Dr. O. H. Mavor (Chairman ) Dr. Ernest Bullock Dr. T. J . Honeyman Sir William McKechnie Dr. J. R. Peddie Mr. Neil Shaw WELSH COMMITTE E Lord Harlech (Chairman) Mr. Haydn Davies Principal Ifor L . Evans Sir Cyril Fox Mr. Wyn Griffith Mrs. Herbert Jones Mr. Parry Williams MUSIC PANE L Sir Stanley Marchant (Chairman ) Mr. F. Bonavia Mr. Benjamin Britten Dr. Ernest Bullock Miss Joan Cross Dr. Hely-Hutchinson Mr. Percy Heming Dame Myra Hess Dr. Herbert Howells Mr. Frank Howes Miss Mary Ibberson Dr. Reginald Jacques Mr. Michael Tippett Miss Ninette de Valois Mr. David Webster DRANIA PANE L Dr. B. Ifor Evans (Chairman) Mr. Bronson Albery Mr. Hugh Beaumont Mr. Martin Browne Mr. Alec Clunes Mr. Val Gielgud Mr. Tyrone Guthrie Mr. Norman Higgins Mr. Walter Hudd Miss Beatrix Lehman n Mr. Benn Levy Mr. Miles Malleson Miss Athene Seyler Mr. Alastair Sim ART PANE L Sir Kenneth Clark (Chairman ) Mr. Leigh Ashton Mr. Samuel Courtauld Mr. Duncan Grant Mr. Philip Hendy Mr. W. T. Monnington Mr. Henry Moore Mr. John Rothenstein THE ARTS COUNCIL OF GREAT BRITAI N FIRST ANNUAL REPORT 1945- 6 9 BELGRAVE SQUARE LONDON S .W . JOHN MAYNARD KEYNE S CHAIRMAN O F C .E.M .A . AND THE ARTS COUNCIL 1942-194 6 On Easter Sunday, 1946, Lord Keynes died suddenly a t his Sussex home of Tilton, soon after his last return fro m America. Lord Keynes won world-wide fame as an economist and a man of learning and culture . The State has lost a great public servant. His work for the arts has not been overlooked in the volume of tribute to him ; but none can appreciate better his labour and skill in that regard than those who have been associated with him in the Arts .Council. His wisdom in handling its affairs was effective because it grew out of personal experience and was coupled with a far-sighted imagination. He was concerned for the good health of particular venture s because he saw behind them all a nation growing in th e enjoyment of the arts old and new, local and metropolitan. He gave the Council his vision and enthusiasm as well as his practical guidance. There is a passage from one of his writings which reads : " The day is not far off when the Economic Proble m will take the back seat where it belongs, and the aren a of the heart and head will be occupied, or reoccupied, by our real problems-the problems of life and of human relations, of creation and behaviour and religion ." That was Lord Keynes's faith. The Arts Council will endeavour to uphold it. ~a~~r<yr~y~i~r,lr ~l~i,l !11 ~~li~`11l11 ~ -4 : :wing the ul^cn,3i~ M .,la performance of Tchaiko%Ak ', Beuutt- by the Sadler's Wells BaIIcz Company (February she King on d Queen and Their Royal Highno~sc, I' :;«tip Elizabeth and Princess Margaret Ro.e in the Royal Box . (Daily' Sketch) I. INTRODUCTION HE REPORT OF THE COUNCIL FOR THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF MUSIC AND THE ARTS FOR 1944 ended with the reminder that the future was still unknown . CEMA was a war-time experiment and could no t launch into peace-time plans . Very soon after that Formation heciArts Report's appearance, the decision of Parliament cozin was taken. On June 12th, 1945, the Chancellor of the Excheque r announced in the House of Commons that CEMA would go o n as a permanent organisation with the title " The Arts Council o f Great Britain." He said that it would be incorporated as an auto- nomous body and that, at the end of the financial year, it woul d leave the shelter of the Ministry of Education and receive its grant-in-aid direct from the Treasury . He himself would speak for it in the House, although the Minister of Education and th e Secretary of State for Scotland would retain their special interest . The knowledge of an assured future has made a great differenc e to the Council's work during the year . The long-term policies , which were already emerging in 1944, could be formed and developed with conviction in 1945 . In particular, the Council's interest in proper buildings for the arts could now take practica l shape and the co-operation of Local Authorities be sought an d welcomed. An inevitable part of the new beginning has been a change o f personnel. Both Lewis Casson and Reginald Jacques had give n up the whole war period to CEMA . Both were anxious to be released from administration and to go back to the active work o f their professions. They left "the office" in April, 1945, to every- stag' Changes one's grief but with universal appreciation of the motive. Soon afterwards, among the birthday honours, Mr. Casson became Sir Lewis and, while we know that this was his acknowledged due fo r a life-time of selfless devotion to the theatre, we cannot hel p borrowing a little of the pride for CEMA. Neither Sir Lewis nor Dr . Jacques is lost to the Arts Council. The first has joined the Council, the second the Music Panel . For the rest, the Council owes so much to them that it would b e churlish not to rejoice in their return to the world of artists, n o longer to be plagued with the problems of grant and guarantee, audition and Entertainments Tax . Another loss to the staff is Gladys Crook, who resigned at th e end of 1945, after being responsible for the engagement o f CEMA concert artists for five-and-a-half years . She did a mag- nificent piece of work, with devotion and gallantry, and she will be remembered for the CEMA air-raid concerts and the factory concerts long after these have grown into something permanen t and different. Saluting the old, we welcome the new . Steuart Wilson is no w Director of Music and Michael MacOwan Director of Drama, and both are driving straight for an active peace-time policy wit h many new ideas and experimental programmes ; which is just a s it should be. No one will misunderstand the comment if we say that the first approach of these two, brought to an organisation which has been absorbed in its special task for six years, has given the staff renewed vitality. Apart from its one tragic loss, the Council has suffered littl e change. Sir John Maud, who became a Councillor early in 1945 , took the Chairman's place during his four month's absence in the United States ; but towards the end of that time he was appointed Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Education . His name, therefore, no longer appears on the list of Councillors , although he remains as the Ministry's assessor . During Lord Keynes' second absence, in the spring of 1946 , and after his death, Dr. Ifor Evans served as Acting Chairman . The Two new members are Mrs . Barbara Ayrton Gould, M.P., and Council Mr. W. E. Williams. Mr. Williams was a member of the original CEMA Committee . and then Honorary Art Director, before he 4 went to ABCA. The Council owes a great deal to his origina l inspiration and he is very welcome back again. It is a happy portent that, at the same time, ABCA becomes the civilian Bureau of Current Affairs, under his guidance . The Parliamentary announcement about the future included panels the news of the appointment of increased Panels for Music an d Drama. For some reason, the membership of both had dwindled, and their usefulness with it, while Art remained vigorous an d effective. The new members were drawn deliberately from th e companies and other enterprises most closely associated with th e Council, and the result has been a series of full, lively meetings, the recommendations of which have been of the greatest possibl e service to the Council . Increasing value is attached to the time, thought and practical help devoted to Arts Council affairs by these many distinguished professional men and women . The full lists of names are given at the beginning of this Report . It may be recorded here that the Art Panel has been strengthene d by the addition of Mr. Leigh Ashton, Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum. Sir Stanley Marchant and Sir Kenneth Clark remain Chairme n of their respective Panels of Music and Art . Mr. Ivor Brown found, last year, that he could no longer give the time necessar y for the Chairmanship of the Drama Panel and his place was take n by Dr. B . Ifor Evans. One other new advisory body was appointed in June, 1945 . A Welsh Welsh Committee, parallel to the Scottish Committee, was set up Committee under the Chairmanship of Lord Harlech . Its experienced recommendations have already proved helpful . The Council's annual Exchequer grant was increased in April, Finance 1945, to £235,000. This was for the period until March 31st , 1946, and represents a rise of £50,000 on the previous year' s income. The audited accounts for 1944/45 are given in Appendix B. 5 Policy The policy of the Arts Council is still that of CEMA .